226 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
been brought together with more painstaking care, probably, than has ever 
been used in the preparation of a catalogue of plants.—J. M. C 
A SECOND EDITION of Professor Atkinson’s book on Mushrooms appeared 
recently from the press of Henry Holt & Company. The new volume con- 
tains ten illustrations which did not appear in the first edition. The value 
and attractiveness of the work are further enhanced by a chapter on the culti- 
vation of mushrooms, illustrated by half-tones of mushroom houses and flash- 
light photographs of mushroom beds in abandoned mines in New York and 
ennsylvania. This chapter gives a good account of the status in the United 
States of an industry of whose existence probably few are aware. Methods 
of culture and marketing mushrooms are fully discussed in this chapter. 
The typography and half-tone work of this edition are of the same excel- 
lent character as in the first edition, making it an exceedingly attractive work. 
—H. HASSELBRING. 
THE SIXTH FASCICLE of Engler’s great work on the genera and families 
of African plants was published in the spring of 1901, and just now, nearly 
three years later, the seventh fascicle® has made its appearance. Itis apre- 
sentation of the genus Strophanthus (Apocynaceae) by E. Gilg, who recog- 
nizes 43 species, only one of which is new, but 8 of which are of recent 
publication by the author. The 10 oo plates, one of them colored, 
are models of illustrative work.— J. M. C. 
NOTES FOR STUDENTS. 
Dixon has examined the temperature difference between subterranean 
organs and the soil by a special thermopile.?_ He finds generally no higher 
temperatures than those of the soil and no diurnal periodicity other than is 
induced by periodic fluctuations of external temperatures. The adaptation 
of apparatus and discussion of errors in thermoelectric measurement of tem- 
peratures have a positive value.—C. R. B 
BouILHAC AND GIusTINIANI® believe that mixtures of bacteria with such 
algae as Nostoc and Anabaena will prove of great economic value in soils that 
areé poor in nitrogen. Cultures of buckwheat supplied with these forms 
developed normally in soils deprived of all other organic matter, and subse- 
quent tests showed that large quantities of nitrogen had been fixed. The 
control cultures of buckwheat developed poorly. — H.C. CowLEs, 
‘ATKINSON, G. F., Studies of American fungi. Imp. 8vo. pp. vii-+323- #85: 
230. New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1 903. $3. 
° ENGLER, A., Mo onographieen afrikanischer Pflanzen-Familien und -Gattungen. 
VII, pate ss — von E. Gilg. 4to. pp. 48. g/s. zo. Leipzig: Wilhelm 
oe 903. M1 
? Dixon, H. H., phe on the temperature i = subterranean organs of 
plants. — Roy. Irish Acad. 32B : 145- 170. we 5 ar : 
® BouvILHac and GrusTINIANI, Sur It in é d’un mélange 
d’algues et de bactéries. Compt. Rend. 137: 1274-1276. 1903. 
